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Main:Mélanie de Jesus Dos Santos
Schelcher, Martinique, France |Row 4 title = Years on National Team |Row 4 info = 2015-present |Row 5 title = Club |Row 5 info = Tropic Gym |Row 6 title = Current status |Row 6 info = Active}} Mélanie de Jesus Dos Santos (born March 5 in Schelcher, Martinique) is an elite French gymnast. She is the 2019 European All-Around Champion, 2018 and 2019 European Floor Exercise Champion, 2017 and 2018 French National Champion, and 2017 European All-Around bronze medalist. She has also represented France at the 2017 and 2018 World Championships. Junior Career Dos Santos competed at the 2015 French National Championships, winning all-around silver in the junior division and placing fifth on bars and floor. She made her international debut at a junior friendly meet against gymnasts from Great Britain and Switzerland. There, she won team gold and placed seventh in the all-around. At the Flanders International Team Challenge in Belgium she won team silver and placed fourth in the all-around. She was named to the French team for the European Youth Olympic Festival. There, she performed well in the team final until vault, where she underrotated her double-twisting Yurchenko and subsequently tore her ACL. France finished sixth in the team final. Senior Career 2016 Dos Santos was able to recover enough to compete in 2016, but her knee injury from the previous year hampered her progress. After placing fourth in the all-around, balance beam, and floor exercise at the French National Championships, and winning team and all-around gold at a friendly meet against Romania (defeating 2012 Olympian Larisa Iordache and eventual 2016 Olympian Louise Vanhille), she was eventually left off the French team for the Olympics. After Rio, she won all-around silver at the Blume Memorial in Spain, and posted the highest score on vault. After that, she competed at the Élite Gym Massilia, winning balance beam gold, all-around bronze, and placing fourth on uneven bars. 2017 Dos Santos started off the year at the American Cup in New Jersey. She hit all four of her routines, posted the highest score on balance beam, and finished an impressive third in the all-around. In April, she competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy, placing fourth with her team and on balance beam, eighth on bars, and ninth in the all-around. Later that month, she took part in the European Championships in Romania. She earned a bronze in the all-around, France's first European all-around medal in over a decade, but fell in the uneven bars final and finished eighth. In May, she became French National Champion, won an additional silver on beam, and placed fifth on uneven bars. In September, she competed at the Paris World Cup, winning silver on bars and placing fourth on beam and seventh on floor. In October, she competed at the World Championships in Montreal, Canada, placing an impressive fifth in the all-around. In November, she competed at the Elite Gym Massilia, winning team and uneven bars gold, all-around silver, and placing fourth on floor exercise. In December, she won gold on uneven bars and silver on balance beam at the Toyota International. 2018 Dos Santos competed at the Doha World Cup in March, winning balance beam gold and uneven bars bronze. In April, she took bronze in the all-around at the Tokyo World Cup. She went on to compete at the French National Championships in May, defending her all-around title, and winning additional gold on bars and floor and placing sixth on beam. In July, she competed at the Sainté Gym Cup, winning team and all-around gold. She went on to compete at the European Championships in Glasgow, Scotland in August. She not only helped France qualify first into the team final, but also posted the highest all-around score. In the team final, France had some mistakes that dropped them down to second place, but they still bested their bronze-medal finish from the last European Championships. Individually, she placed fourth on balance beam and won gold on floor exercise. In September, she competed at the Paris World Cup, placing eighth on the uneven bars (after scraping her knees on the mat) and winning the gold medal on floor. She was named to the French team for the World Championships in Doha, Qatar in late October. She contributed to the French team's fifth place finish in the team final and individually placed sixth in the all-around and on floor exercise. After Doha, she placed tenth at the Arthur Gander Memorial and competed at the Swiss Cup Zurich, but didn't make the semi-final. 2019 Due to an injured finger, Dos Santos only competed on balance beam and floor exercise at the Team Challenge in the Stuttgart World Cup, helping France qualify to the team final and finish fourth.injured finger She initially planned to continue competing on those two events at the European Championships in April, but decided at the last minute to compete the all-around. She qualified second to the all-around, eighth to the uneven bars final, seventh to the balance beam final, and third to the floor exercise final. In the all-around, she gave solid performances across all four events, posting high scores on balance beam and floor exercise, winning the title over the then-reigning champion Ellie Downie of Great Britain and the highest qualifier into the all-around Angelina Melnikova of Russia. Dos Santos became only the second French gymnast to be European All-Around Champion, following Marine Debauve in 2005. After finishing seventh in the uneven bars final, she claimed a silver medal on balance beam and defended her European title on floor exercise. At the Paris World Cup in September, she showed significant upgrades on the uneven bars and won gold. Although she qualified first to the balance beam final, she fell in the event final and finished seventh. In October, she competed at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, coming into the competition as a favorite for individual medals. She qualified third to the all-around and helped France qualify fourth to the team final. Unfortunately, falls in the team final and all-around dropped France down to fifth place, and Dos Santos finished twentieth in the all-around. She also placed fifth on balance beam and floor exercise, and won the Longines Prize for Elegance. Medal Count Floor Music 2016 - "Tango Amore" by Edvin Marton 2017 - “Humidifier” by Eddie Hale 2018 - "Jungle Bill"/ "Tiger Dust" by Yello/ "La Cumparsita" by Kiazz Brothers & Cuba Percussion 2019 - "Show Me How You Burlesque" from Burlesque/ "I Feel Good" by James Brown References